A crummy week
by Kitsunekit75
Summary: Nikki get's kidnapped while on a case and Monroe get's called into action
1. Prologue

Prologue

Nikki woke in a daze, the room wouldn't stop spinning as she felt a strain on her wrists and ankles, she looked down to see two pairs of what looked to be her feet spinning in circles, bound together. She moaned softly as she used her middle finger to feel her wrists and felt the familiar sweet and sticky liquid on her normally smooth and soft skin. She shut her eyes tightly as she tried to a hold of herself, she felt the sweat dripping from her forehead, the grainy concrete under her exposed skin, but what really got to her was the insufferable pain in her right shoulder, she was familiar to this, she was shot.  
"Great, can my week get any worse?" she spoke aloud sarcastically.


	2. Chapter 1

One week earlier...

Nikki had a bad morning, first off she and Jared had one of the weirdest arguments involving what's the better pizzerias, Domino's or Papa Murphy's, then the fridge and freezer broke down, they had no coffee in the house meaning Jared was going to grumpy all morning, or until he buys some later on. The thing that really ground her nerves was when she got a call at six in the morning about a homicide somewhere in downtown Portland near Powell bookstore. Ever since she moved down from New York when she was seven. Nikki had always enjoyed coming to Powell's Bookstore when she had free time, now though, she sighed as she stepped out of her jeep and put on her pullover and pulled her hair into a messy bun at the base of her neck. Loose hair framed her face as her bangs started to get into her eyes, she flipped her head and felt a tiny grin tug at the corner of mouth, she hadn't done that since high school, the saying, 'Old habits die hard' ran through her mind. She approached a dark skinned man with a goatee and small diamond stud in his left ear, he had his gun holstered in the left side of his pants and had his dark grey jacket unzipped despite the cool morning temperatures. Nikki yawned just as she came to the crime scene, a small hand covering her mouth, once she got to the crime scene the dark skinned man, a.k.a. Detective Hank Griffin of the Portland P.D. handed her a large to-go cup. She could smell the strong scent of hot chocolate, vanilla and mint extract as she inhaled its beautiful scents, holding it against her chest,  
"I thought you could use a quick pick me up, ran into Jared yesterday and he told me what happened, and I know you hate coffee so i got you this instead" Nikki gave him a grateful look,  
"Sometimes Hank, I think your like the older brother my parents couldn't give me" Hank only shook his head grinning,  
"Sometimes Nikki, I think your like the younger sister my parents wouldn't give me" the younger girl only chuckled as they both turned to the dead body. Handing Hank her hot chocolate Nikki pulled on a pair of latex gloves that Sergeant Wu gave her, a small Asian man only a few inches taller than her and is more than willing to do the grunt work if you ask nicely, she crouched low as Hank handed her the to-go cup, she took a careful sip, trying not to get any on the evidence. Once the fresh flavors of hot chocolate, vanilla and mint filled her mouth she took a careful look at the victim. It was male, between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, his hair was shoulder length with peach fuzz starting to just barely darken if you looked close enough, his eyes were open sadly, showing the raw and genuine fear and pain this kid must've felt. His eyes which were now a glossy and glazed over green were dull and an endless pit of despair and cold darkness, Nikki had to look away, she looked back to what the kid was wearing, which was a bright red hoody with a pair of baggy jeans and some converse, he had a backpack with him. Taking a gloved hand she reached over the boy and picked at a piece of silver around his neck, on it was-  
"-Is that a locket?" she heard Sergeant Wu asked, Nikki strained her neck a little to turn and look at him, she nodded,  
"Yeah, heart shaped too, meaning it was given to him by a girlfriend or a sister possibly, until we open it there's no telling who gave it to him" handing the Sergeant her cup she opened it up to reveal two pictures. The first picture was of a girl, she looked to be around the victim's age, she had shoulder length pale blonde hair with large blue eyes and light brown freckles dusting her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She had a happy-go-lucky smile on her face, making her seem as innocent as a five year old child, her hair was pulled into two low pigtails, it only showed her head, her neck, shoulders and a little of her torso. The second picture was of an even younger girl, this girl had two pigtail braids with light brown hair that went farther than the picture showed, she had the same happy-go-lucky smile with the same freckles that seemed to match the pale blonde haired girls. Turning to Hank she showed him the pictures, he looked thoughtful as he stared at the two girls then he flipped over the locket, he raised his eyebrows, after staring at the back for a little bit longer he handed it back to Nikki,  
"There's an inscription, read it" standing Nikki took to the locket and looked, feeling a little pride swell in her for guessing it right,  
"_To the angel that stole my heart, as long as we love each other you always have my heart with you_  
_ -Tiny" _  
"'Tiny?'" Nikki questioned, it could be a nickname, she thought, growing up her Aunt Marie always called her Scrappy as a nickname, she shook her head as Hank held out an evidence bag, she closed the locket and hooked the clasp back with the chain then gently placed it in the bag, not wanting to tangle the chain.  
"Guess our first clue is to find any jeweler's that do inscriptions" Hank suggested, Nikki nodded, took her to-go cup and took a sip, she wasn't sure if was her skills as a detective, or if was her newfound Grimm abilities, but she had a really bad feeling about this case.

Down in the Portland police department both Nikki and Hank sat at their desks waiting for the coroner, or anyone really to update them on any progress they got on the evidence, Nikki and Hank got a dead end with the inscriptions, everyone they went to didn't recognize the order, or the nickname, hell, they didn't even have any clue as to who the kid was. The only thing they knew was that he was between the ages of thirteen to sixteen and that he was a runaway, or in the process of it. The backpack they found had several different types of clothing, jeans, shirts, underclothes, even a few notebooks which had nothing more than drawings of different wolves. Nikki looked to her computer screen, it had the website of a small family owned business jewelery store, it belonged to a Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. She sighed and fingered the pull string on her sweatshirt, she could feel the warmth in her armpits, so she started taking it off, she had just slid it over her head when she saw Sergeant Wu heading their way,

"Nikki, Hank, we got our victim's name and address" Hank looked up, relief etched on his face as he was handed the file,

"It says here that the victim is a Mr. Tanner Demos, lives in Springfield, but moved here with his dad when he was sixteen, that was about a year after his mom died" Nikki looked up,

"How did his mom died?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed,

"Let's see, ah, it says it was an animal attack, apparently they were having a family hiking trip when mom was attacked, quite violently, by a wolf" she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, looking over at her partner,

"Where were they hiking?" she asked,

"Says it was near 'Sisters'" Nikki sighed, deciding not to think about it yet and looked up again at Hank,

"Guess we need to talk to dad now" the man only sighed as he nodded, closed the folder and stood, following the younger girl out the door and to his car.

Nikki stared out at the scenery as they drove to Tanner's house, every officer and detective hated this part, informing the parent or guardian that their kid won't be coming home anymore, never to see their smiling face again or to have another happy memory with them to look back on in time of need. Ducking her head it was always at this part when Nikki hated her job and always remembered feeling like a little kid again about to fess up to doing something she knew she shouldn't have done.

"Why do I feel like killing myself whenever this happens?" Hank suddenly spoke up, Nikki looked up at him, he looked upset, not like he was going to cry but like he was realizing this job is never as worth it as when you first start out,

"Because this is something no one wants to tell another person" was all she said, the rest of the drive was done in silence.


	3. Chapter 2

The house that Nikki and Hank drove to was a beautiful one story house, it had the look of a 1950's house with a blue coating, white shutters over the windows which were currently open, and a white picket fence that was locked tightly and fencing a decent sized lush green yard. Stepping out of the car and locking up Nikki and Hank made sure that their badges were visible from under their jackets, which Nikki currently had tied around her hips, revealing a black t shirt that hugged her curves but was still decent for this kind of weather. While Hank knocked the door Nikki surveyed the area, making sure that nothing suspicious was going on, it was a quiet neighborhood with the same style of housing for the whole block, there were bikes on their sides in some yards, others were empty. There was some scuffling before the door finally opened up, revealing a man about 5'9' with short dark brown hair, he had the same green eyes as Tanner, with tanned skin . He wore a dark red and black flannel button up with short sleeves, under it he wore a white long sleeve with a pair of jeans and some tennis shoes, he was lean muscled and looked like he could hold his own in a fight,

"Hello, we're from Portland P.D. I'm detective Griffin and this is detective Burkhardt, we would like to know when was the last time you saw your son Tanner" the man choked, a large hand covering the bottom half of his face as he moved to the side and looked to the ground,

"Please, please come in detectives" he said. Hank and Nikki did as they were told and walked into the house. The house was bigger on the inside, it had wood flooring with a large kitchen off to the right with a small island in the middle and a counter in the space between the kitchen and the living room with three stools. The stools were a light wooden color that seemed to have a glossy finish on it, the counters had linoleum on it. Looking to the living room there was a large screen T.V. in the middle with a coffee table a yard away from it, with a couch that looked to be leather behind the table, there was a matching love chair next to it with a small and neatly folded blanket on it. Mr. Demos extended his hand to the couch, indicating he wanted them to sit down, following her partner Nikki sat on the farthest end of the couch that was away from the love seat as Hank sat on the other end,

"Can I get you anything detectives?" Mr. Demos asked, Hank turned to the man,

"No sir, we just have a few questions to ask you if you don't mind" Hank spoke gently, Mr. Demos nodded, face flushing as he walked quickly back to the love seat and looked to the two detectives before him.

"What would you like to know?" he asked, Nikki looked to Hank and sighed inwardly,

"Sir, we found your son's body, I'm incredibly sorry Mr. Demos but can you tell us where you were two nights ago between three-thirty P.M. and five A.M.?" Nikki asked gently, the man before her started to cry silent tears but it didn't seem to matter to the man as he looked to Nikki and nodded, he took a shaky breath as he spoke again,

"Yeah, I was working a double shift that day, one of the men I was working with was sick and I needed the hours so I took the offer" Nikki nodded, Hank spoke up,

"Can you tell us if anyone can verify your story?" Mr. Demos nodded and told them a short list of people that were working that night as well at the same time he was and a few dedicated customers he was friends with. While Mr. Demos was answering more of Hank's questions Nikki saw it, his face morphed into a fox's face, a Fuchsbau if she remembered correctly that Rosalee girl was one, as well as Ferdy. She'd have to consult Rosalee, or, there's always Monroe too. Taking a deep breath and quietly letting it out Nikki listened to Hank's questioning, it seemed that Tanner wasn't running away, he had stayed over at a friends house for a study group, he didn't have any girlfriends from what he knew of and he was supposed to get a ride home from a friend but asked why his son wasn't driven home. Once the meeting was over Nikki and Hank now had a list of kids from the study group, whose house it was at and the address and names of the kids parents. Nikki got into the passenger seat again as Hank did, they buckled up and just sat there in silence, Hank mulling over how it was a kid and Nikki wondering if the son was a Fuchsbau too. Five minutes went by when the man started the car and pulled out of the street and started driving back to the precinct to do some background checking on the kids. Once again the silence was thick as they drove back to the office, as they drove Nikki wondered if the man that killed Tanner is a creature too or if he was an ordinary man.

Once they got back to the police station Nikki headed straight to her desk, sitting in her chair she started typing on her keyboard, beginning a back check on the kids. The search took a longer time to do than she would have liked, turned out a lot of the kids that were in Tanner's study group all had charges, mostly it was small stuff, like petty theft, breaking and entering. There was one name that seemed to stand out among a few others, there was a David Newman, says that he was a college student, Nikki frowned, why would a college student hang out with a bunch of sophomores? It's not like any of the kids were related to him, nor was the victim, she would have to question the kids about David. Looking up she saw the time and knew her shift was over, it was surprising though, she hadn't realized how long she'd been staring at the computer screen, even Hank was gone. Sighing she turned off the screen, grabbed her jacket and walked out, wondering who they need to talk to next.


	4. Chapter 3

It was late when Nikki got home, the tall, two story Victorian styled house stood high before her as she jogged up the steps of her front porch and opened the door, the front parlor smelled of onions, mushrooms and sausage. Closing the door and hanging her jacket up she walked into the kitchen to see Jared standing in front of the stove stirring what looked to be spaghetti sauce, she could see mushrooms and olives poking out of the sauce, the noodles were already being stirred, the French bread sitting on the cutting board, waiting to be cut in half and buttered then garlic salted. Nikki walked over and opened a bottom drawer, taking out a steak knife and cut the bread in half, then taking a butter knife she buttered it and added the garlic salt later on. Once she finished she turned, seeing the oven already open, Jared leaning against the opposite counter, drinking an already open bottle of beer, he took a sip as he watched her put the bread carefully in the oven and then closed it gently and turned to face her boyfriend. She sighed, she knew this routine, they fight, he makes spaghetti and she forgives him, and they don't talk about it, she knew it wasn't the most healthiest way of dealing with an argument but at the moment she didn't want to have a heart to heart talk. She walked over to him and taking the bottle out of his hand she took a sip, normally she hated drinking, but the burning sensation in her throat was something she had gotten used to from drinking so much Dr. Pepper. Handing him the bottle back she silently headed to the lower cabinet and grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper, opened it and took a drink, loving the burning sensation in her had been drinking the caffeine for so many years now that it didn't help to keep her awake anymore, it was just something for her to drink after a long day. They ate in silence as usual and she noted that Jared seemed more...quiet than usual, by this time he would be telling her about a cat or dog he operated on or asking about her day, Nikki knew the breakup wasn't going to be far off by this point. It was only a matter of time, a point later proved when she came out of the shower and found a note on Jared's side of the bed with her name on it, _'Andy from work called, her car broke down again and asked if i could come and take her home, I'll be back as soon as I can, -Jared'_ she sighed as she got dressed in a pair of jeans and a black spaghetti strap top, her old skater shoes from college, she towel dried her hair, brushed the wet tangles out easily and headed to the one place that she could always call as her own lately, she just hoped Monroe wouldn't mind the company.

Once she pulled into the driveway belonging to the Blutbad, she was only halfway up the walkway when the door opened, a stream of golden light and the promise of delicious tasting hot chocolate greeted her sense of smell, she licked her lips as she stood on the doorway to see said man standing off to the side, inviting her in. She stepped in and was glad to see him close the door softly and give her a look of slight annoyance, Nikki was sure Monroe would be used to her strange hours of visitation or calls, but, from his expression, guess he quite wasn't used to her strange hours. The man before her sighed before heading to the kitchen and reached into his coffee mug cabinet and pulled out a big cup, filled it halfway with hot chocolate powder and added it with water and mixed it, then, taking a spoon he filled it with vanilla extract and dumped the contents in with another spoonful of mint extract, just how she likes it. When he came back into the room he found the Grimm sitting curled on his couch, where she normally sits, handing her the cup he took a seat across from her in the chair and waited for her to talk. In all truth Monroe didn't mind the late night visits or phone calls as much as he likes to complain, but he does need her to know he does have a life outside of her, even if it doesn't look much. She took a small sip, she exhaled a large amount of air, giving him a contented sigh as she let the drink warm her up. Nikki knew he wanted to know why she was at his place again and like this when she could be with Jared, so, for the first time since Aunt Marie's death, she told him about her thoughts of their relationship lately and if the breakup would really be as good a solution as any, or if she should stay with him and prolong the breakup. At least, until the case is over.

"I love Jared, I do, and lately it's just…like I can't really…feel like I can call it home anymore" she spoke softly, though Monroe's ears heard her,

"Maybe breaking up with him is what you should do, I mean, you always seem to really be upset when you mention him lately and maybe it's time" he told her awkwardly, she didn't say anything except sipping more of her hot chocolate. She blinked her eyes tiredly, she clearly didn't feel like going home, if she could even call it that, and looked up to her friend,

"Mind if I stay over tonight? I honestly don't want to go back there" her eyes fluttered as her head fell against the armrest, the last thing she remembered was Monroe's arms holding her up and the feeling of flight before sleep overtook her.

The next day Nikki woke up to the smell of bacon and French toast, sitting up she looked to her surroundings and recognized the familiar guest room, _that's right, she thought, she ended up at Monroe's place. Flipping the warm blanket over her she stood and saw she was in her clothes from yesterday, going over to the dresser drawer beside the bed she pulled out a pair of form fitting jeans and a red spaghetti strapped top, knowing Monroe will hate her for it. Looking in the mirror she looked to her image, grinning, liking how good she looked in her jeans. Looking back to the bed she wince and made the bed, afraid of Monroe's five minute scolding on the importance of being a gracious guest. She made it neatly before finding her shoes placed next to the nightstand right next to the bed, putting them on she trotted down the stairs and to the kitchen. Walking in she spotted her friend eating at the table, from what she could tell he hadn't been eating very long, _

"_Really?" he asked, annoyed when he looked up, Nikki only grinned cheekily before taking a seat across from him and started eating the French toast, her face flushing from how good it is. They ate in a peaceful silence, sometimes they would look and lock eyes for a split minute before looking away again and continuing to eat some more. Nikki liked how the powdered sugar tasted on the French toast, and the way her taste buds danced as the apple juice swirled and was drained down her throat. Once they finished Nikki felt her phone buzz, _

"_Hey, what's up Hank?" she asked, Monroe gave her a look and swept his arm silently to the dishes, she only grinned and turned her back to him, _

"_Hey Nikki, listen, we got a hit on that college student, David, guess where he is right now?" his tone hinted a silent smugness that suggested he already knew where the boy is, Nikki rolled her eyes, _

"_Where is he?" she spoke, placing a free hand on her hip, sticking it out a little, her usual pose when talking on her cell. On the other end of the line she could hear a faint noise of what sounded like struggling, and then, Wu's voice could be heard shouting on the other end, _

"_Quit struggling already! We just wanted to ask you a few questions!" she sighed, running a hand messily through her hair, _

"_I'll be at the precinct in a minute, see you soon" after she hung up she pocketed her phone and turned to the now somewhat annoyed Blutbad, _

"_Nikki" he growled, _

"_Monroe" she challenged, which was a first, but he could hear the hint of playfulness in her voice, and the glint of amusement that never left her large grey eyes. Letting her shoulders slacken and her body loosening up, she walked over to him and smiled up at him, _

"_I'll bring dinner over later and do the dishes, how about that?" she bargained, Monroe stared long and hard into her eyes, trying to find any deception in them, but, deep down, he knew he'd never find any. Nikki is the most honest and sincere person he's ever met, shaking his head he gave her a stern look that belonged to a father catching his eight year old stealing a cookie before dinner, she gave him an apologetic smile. Another minute of staring he finally gave up, deciding if he didn't let her go, she'd be late at work and then he'd get an earful of it later. _

"_Fine, go already," he gave her a shooing motion, she only grinned as she hugged him tightly, and practically ran out of the house, a briefcase he never noticed before gripped tightly in her hand as she got into her jeep, started, and drove off, once again leaving him with dish duty, again._


	5. Chapter 4

Once Nikki got to the precinct she walked straight to the interrogation room that she had seen Hank standing in, putting her briefcase on her desk chair she took her jacket off and headed straight in. Opening and closing the door quietly she took a seat beside her partner and looked to the younger man before them. David had looked exactly like his picture they found from his license, only his hair had been cut and it was shaggier, in the picture it was longer, to his shoulders, like Tanner's actually. Hank spoke up,

"Now that we're all here, how do you know the victim?" the air was eerily silent as David's eyes flickered from Hank to Nikki, this happened for a whole minute before he finally cracked a grin and chuckled darkly, a shiver nearly ran down Nikki's spine,

"You think I'd have anything to do with that loser's death? Come on, he was annoying sure, but not enough for me to kill him, when did he die?" he asked suddenly, Hank seemed to be debating whether or not to tell him, Nikki remained silent, trying to watch for any transformations, none, yet.

"Two nights ago" the words hung in the heavy silence as the man before them considered his words, he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, which slowly shaped into fur, his features slowly turned into that of a Blutbad, sadly though, David caught her staring and glared. Nikki only stared head on, showing him she's not afraid of him, even though she is, her hand shook under the table. Keeping her breathing stable she spoke up,

"Where you then, if you weren't supposedly killing Tanner?" she asked, her voice controlled, David kept looking at her, her guess, trying to unnerve her, like hell she'd let that happen. He stared at her, his eyes trailing to her exposed neck, right where the pulse is before he tore his gaze away, he leaned back, crossing his arms against his chest and closed his eyes. He didn't answer her question, which bugged Hank,

"Detective Burkhardt just asked you a question kid, I suggest you answer it" he warned, but he was ignored. They sat like that for a good five minutes, all the while Nikki wondered if David had someone help him,

"It's a simple question David, where were you the night Tanner was killed?" her voice was controlled, but her tone was low, daring him to give her a reason to put him in lock up, even if it's for the night. He still didn't say anything, staying in his earlier position from before, sighing quietly he opened his eyes, the color was flickering between red and brown. It was fast and barely noticeable, but Nikki's observation skills caught it. David finally looked to her and smirked before looking back to Hank,

"I want to talk to her alone," he demanded, her partner glared and leaned forward, his voice and tone threatening as he spoke again,

"Why should I let you? What reason do I have to know I can feel assured that you won't plan to do anything to her?"

"You don't, but I'll only talk if me and Detective Burkhardt are alone, and no one can be behind that glass you got there" he jerked his chin to the two way glass behind the two detectives, Hank took deep calming breaths, not trusting his partners in the hands of this creep.

"Hank, I'll be fine" she told the older man, he looked to her, searching her eyes and found nothing to discourage him from trusting her, sighing, he stood and walked out the door. A minute later David leaned forward, almost gleefully, as his smile turned sickening,

"You're a Grimm, and yet I smell another Blutbadden scent on you, male from how strongly his scent clings to your soft skin, like a perfume you can never take off. Oh the joys of being in the presence of easy prey and not able to take away an enemy's pet toy, let me guess, he has you house trained right? Probably made you his the first time he saw you, can't blame him really, but still…a Grimm, never thought I'd live to see the day" Nikki stayed quiet, not wanting to give into this psycho's wishes, for the millionth time since they've met, she wished Monroe was with her, pushing the thought away she looked to David,

"Where were you the night Tanner was killed?" her voice was low, soft, as she tried to keep him focused, it worked, to an extent. He pouted and leaned back slowly, slowly easing back into his human features,

"The night Tanner was killed, I was with Danni and Selena, two strippers that I frequently hire at a time, they work at a club in Shaker's, in the downtown Portland area. I was there all night with the girls, just ask them" he smirked, Nikki tried to keep herself from throwing up, which was pretty hard to do at the moment, swallowing, she took a deep breath and exhaled, she stood and started walking out of the room. Just as her hand touched the door handle, his voice reached her ears,

"Detective Burkhardt, I hope the next time we see each other, I would like a chance to feel for myself why your Blutbad keeps you around, you seem to know your way around a perfectly sized mattress, see you later…Grimm…" slamming the door open and shut she stormed over to Hank, he was up and heading straight to her, he grabbed her by the shoulders and bent a little so he was at her eye line,

"What did he do to you? You look really shaken up, should I book him and keep him in lockdown for now?" she sighed irritably and shook her head no slowly,

"Sorry, we have nothing to book him on, besides I got his alibi, the psycho creep was in downtown strip club called Shaker's" Hank frowned, before he seemed to get an idea,

"Well, technically he harassed you right? We could lock him up for that" she grinned before shaking her head at him, unfortunately for her Hank acted on his idea. She felt him tremble from anger before he let her go and stormed into the interrogation room, two minutes later hank was harshly dragging David out of the room and into the hallway, when they passed her by David looked to her and smiled at her seductively, unable to hold it in anymore she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as she turned her back on them. Feeling a presence before her Nikki looked up to see Captain Renard, he was a tall man, reaching full height at almost six feet tall, he gave her a soft look and in his eyes she could tell he knew David said something to her, how could he not know? He approached her cautiously,

"Detective, what happened?" he asked her, she sighed as she looked up to him,

"Creep asshole tried to psych me out, I'll be fine though, I've handled worse before" she smirked, finally starting to feel like herself again, he gave her a look but nodded,

"Well, did you get anything out of him at least?" he asked, she nodded, happy for the change of topic and told him what David told her,

"Shaker's is a strip club that he was in, with two girls he hired for the night named Danni and Selena, says he was with them all night, I'm going to check on it with Hank when he's done" the Captain nodded,

"Keep me updated" he told her before pivoting and walking back to his office, Nikki sighed and she shook her head then walked back to her desk and started gathering some of her things. Hank finally came back,

"Well, you ready?" she asked, he nodded as she followed him out the door and back to his car, hoping to find the two girls.


	6. Chapter 5

Shaker's is a famous strip club in downtown Portland, it's usually filled with men cheating on their wives or men who are just plain scum. Pulling up to the three story royal purple building, Hank and Nikki looked at it with disgust, Nikki wondered if maybe she should be the one to conduct the interviews instead, she thought against it when they went in when Hank walked straight to one of the bouncers.

"Portland P.D. we need to talk to two girls by the name of Danni and Selena" the bouncer, whose name tag said Bo on it, regarded the two cops in front of him, after considering his options, he sighed heavily and let them pass by,

"Ask for a man named Mike and he'll give you the girls" Hank nodded as Nikki trotted after her partner into the club. Loud, R&B music filled the club, in the middle of the room was a stage connected to a catwalk that already had women dancing on it. The women were wearing bikini's in different colors, one girl had stars on her nipples and a moon tattooed on her hip. Nikki shook, happy she wanted to catch bad guys, not STD's. The room was dark, as most strip clubs are during open hours, the walls an even darker shade of purple than the outside with a few disco balls hanging from the ceilings, on the left side of the stage was a bar with only two men sitting there, drinking. The bartender was pretty well toned with a tight black t, he was bald but it worked for him, as he was wiping the counter with a washcloth he spotted Nikki and winked at her, she rolled her eyes and showed him her badge, he looked away immediately. Looking around some more, she spotted a lot of well dressed men and some guys wearing casual clothing, though, there was one man that she thought she'd never see there. Her mind raced as she thought of all the different scenarios of how she could approach him, she could stalk up to him, storm over and demand to hear his reasons for being here, or she could just leave him alone and confront him later…with no witnesses. Feeling undeniable anger and pure hatred she was about to storm to him when Hank tapped her shoulder, turning her head sharply at him Nikki saw the confused look he gave her and shook her head.

"We need to find Mike" he told her, she followed, silently pulling herself together as they walked to another bouncer, like Bo, this man looking pretty intimidating and looked to handle himself in a fight pretty well, his name tag said Spike,

"Hello Spike, I'm Detective Griffin and this is Detective Burkhardt of the Portland P.D. we were wondering where we may find Mike?" he asked, Spike looked over their badges then nodded,

"Follow me" he told them, his voice was deep and a bit gravely as he started to walk away, Nikki took one last look at the man before shaking her head and following the two men before her.

Nikki and Hank followed Spike to a door opposite side of the catwalk, when he used a keycard to open it the door opened to reveal a staircase going up, he kept the door open for them, after Nikki walked through they doorway Spike followed her but then proceeded to get in front of them as he lead the two Detectives up a flight of stairs. While they walked Hank started talking,

"So, Spike, what is that Mike does here?" he asked casually, Spike paused and looked back at them before looking away again and continued walking,

"Mike hires the girls, he gives them a place to stay in the building if they can't get their own place, he feeds them, takes care of them. You become a dancer in his club, your basically taken care of, the girls are given a somewhat stable place to call their own when the men are away. He treats them with respect, it's a little incredible if you think about it" he mused. Nikki nodded silently, as if she understood what he was talking about, did she though? Shaking the though from her head she looked up just in time to see the bouncer step onto the landing and taking a left, they walked down the hall until they reached the very end of it, both Hank and Nikki were surprised to find the wall was actually a carefully hidden door. Spike knocked softly, they waited not even a half minute when someone answered back in an equally soft voice,

"Come in" they did. When the door opened the bouncer nodded for the two detectives to walk ahead of him. Entering the room Nikki inspected it. In front of them was a huge wooden desk complete with a computer, a printer and some speakers with a small mound of papers and notebooks piled into two separate piles. In front of the desk was two comfortable looking chairs, the floors were hardwood with what looked to be fleur-de-lis patterned rugs, on the walls were different pictures that were blown up, there were a few of the supposed grand opening. Some of the bouncers and dancers taking a group shot together, or ones with individual shots of each worker and dancer at the club. Next to the desk was a bookshelf on each side, some of them binders or novels, looking to the wall in front of her she saw a huge blown up photo of the entire management with a single man in the middle of it all. He had short and neatly cropped hair with a simple black suit, no tie, and the first two buttons undone. He wore a relaxed smile as he had one arm around each girl that stood next to him, each girl had at least one champagne and a happy, celebratory smile on her face.

Looking back to the man in front of them she wasn't surprised to see the blonde haired man standing before them, only, instead of a suit, he wore simple jeans and a white t over a black long sleeved shirt. He smiled warmly to the two Detectives as he indicated for them to sit,

"Pleas, take a seat" looking to her partner she nodded, they walked slowly up to the chairs and eased themselves slowly into their own seat, Nikki leaned back and crossed her legs, keeping her hands relaxed and folded gently on her lap,

"Now, how may I help you?" curiosity colored his tone,

"Two nights ago, there was a young boy who was murdered, one of our suspects, a David Neman, said he was here all night with two of your girls, named Danni and Selena. Unfortunately we don't have any last names, but he said he was here with them all night," Mike took a deep breath before slowly letting it out, his eyebrows furrowed as he rubbed his face with his hand,

"Yeah, I always keep track of whoever the girls, any of the girls, meet up with and for how long," he said this as he reached out to one of his binders on his desk, he flipped through the pages, he paused as he stared down at the page and looked up at the two Detectives before him,

"You said Mr. Newman was with Danni and Selena?" Hank nodded,

"Yes sir, is something wrong?" Mike sighed, shaking his head as he handed the binder to Hank, he turned to Nikki, a sorrowful expression on his face,

"I'm sorry Detectives, but indeed Mr. Newman was with the girls all night, I have the time they started and the time they stopped written down, I even have his signature" Nikki shook her head,

"No, it's fine, thank you though for your cooperation, though if you don't mind we would like to speak to Danni and Selena personally, just to make sure it was really our suspect and not someone else in his place" Mike nodded, understanding,

"It's alright, I have Danni and Selena scheduled for tomorrow but I can give you their home address if you need it" Nikki nodded, giving him a grateful smile,

"Thank you, we appreciate it" once Mike had written it down for them the man nodded,

"It's no trouble at all, and anything to help find that boys killer, is there anything else you need?" Hank looked doubtful and Nikki gained an idea,

"What about security camera's? Do you mind if we look over footage from two nights ago? Just to see if it really was our suspect" Mike looked thoughtful as he turned to his computer, the sounds of tap, tap, tap filled the air as he concentrated on the screen. After he looked at the screen he turned it so the two Detectives before him could see it. On the screen was an image of David, sitting in the middle of two girls, he had one arm wrapped around each of their shoulders and had a lustful look in his eyes as he hungrily looked over their bodies. Nikki frowned, on the top right hand corner of the screen was a time and date of the image and it was during the time Tanner had been murdered. Hank made a discouraging noise and sighed, leaning back in his seat, Nikki did the same,

"Is that the man your asking about?" Mike asked, Nikki sighed and nodded,

"Yeah, that's him alright. Thank you for your help, if we have any follow up questions we'll contact you," Hank said, Mike stood, followed by Nikki and Hank,

"Yes, please anytime, and I hope that you find that boys killer soon" both Detectives nodded as they followed Spike out of the office.

While walking back Nikki's mind whirled with different thoughts and images as Hank and her passed through the doorway across the catwalk, looking back to the man that sat there before she noticed he was gone, taking a deep breath and exhaling it she knew what she had to do next. Emptying her mind, she followed Hank out of the strip club and back to his car, now they needed to talk to Danni and Selena.

In the car Nikki looked to Hank, he looked unhappy at the thought of David getting away from this, especially since what he said to Nikki this morning but shook it off,

"I think that was successful huh?" she asked, he kept staring at the road and nodded,

"Yeah, we should talk to Danni and Selena tomorrow, then I think we should go check on the kids from Tanner's study group" he suggested, Nikki nodded,

"Good idea, plus we still need to know who those two girls are from the locket, you get anything on that order yet?" she asked, Hank sighed, irritated as he shook his head no,

"Nope, nothing, maybe he got it done in Springfield?" Nikki thought about it, it was possible,

"Probably, or maybe it was a home job, you never know" Hank nodded, as he drove them back to the precinct in silence.


	7. Chapter 6

After telling Hank the address of Danni and Selena, Nikki felt the vibration in the tires as they drove to the address. Taking a left on Centennial, Nikki and Hank found a small apartment complex, thinking about it now, the apartment shape and size reminded Nikki of her first apartment. The building they pulled up to was two stories, it was painted a light blue with simple white doors, in the space between the apartment door and the garage doors was a decent sized rose bush, because of the chilling temperatures, the roses were closed. They were red with hints of pink, or pink with hints of red, the bush itself was lush and a beautiful green that matched the same green forests surrounding Oregon. Looking back to Hank he was already at the door, ringing the bell, it was a simple tune and the two Detectives had to wait for a minute before hearing a loud,

"Coming!" that was muffled by the door. It took another minute before the faint sounds of footsteps became louder and the door was being unlocked, the door knob clicked and opened, revealing a woman with short wavy pale blonde hair, her large blue eyes clear of any eye makeup. She wore a pair of red sweats with a grey tank top, her skin was pale and she looked strangely familiar. Nikki continued eyeing the woman while Hank spoke,

"Hello, I'm Detective Griffin and this is Detective Burkhardt, are you by any chance Selena Gonzalez or Danni Parker?" the woman paused, then looked to Nikki before she spoke,

"I'm Danni Parker, what is this about?" she looked upset, if it were possible, her face paled even more, as if she knew what they wanted to ask her, Hank and Nikki shared a look.

"May we come in ma'am? It might be easier to do this with no one looking" she spoke softly, Once inside Nikki, like usual, looked around the surrounding area. The apartment was small and clean, there was blue carpeting, the kitchen was small with linoleum flooring, granite countertops, the stove top was wiped clean and the kitchen smelled faintly like Pine Sol. So she just cleaned up, Nikki thought, looking to the living room she saw a nice looking couch with green fabric, there was a lacy blanket folded over the top of the couch, it was spacious, a man of Monroe's height would be able to sleep on it with room to stretch and still have even more to wiggle around on it. Next to it was a matching chair of the same green fabric, the same lacy blanket on top of the chairs top, in the space between the couch and the chair was a long glass coffee table with simple cork coasters, angled so it was parallel to the front window was a simple T.V.

"Please have a seat, can I get you anything?" Danni asked politely, they both declined, they would go to a Burger King later or something and get something quick, cop thing.

"No thank you, but we do have some questions" Hank reminded her gently, she nodded as she came back in the living room, sitting on the chair next to Nikki while the two Detectives took up the couch, she had a small tray with three glasses of water and Nikki knew she was only trying to be nice.

"Okay, well, I don't really have anything to hide so ask away" she smiled, Nikki looked to Hank, he nodded, letting the younger woman do her thing, she smiled to her partner before looking back to their witness,

"If your talking about David yeah he was with us. He usually only requests us three times a-" her voice stopped as she looked sharply up again at Nikki, her eyes wide with fear,

"Did you just say Tanner Demos?" her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, Nikki nodded, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Tanner…that fool…" her voice trailed as she let out a soft sigh, she wiped her eyes even though she hadn't started crying, Nikki locked eyes with her and she suddenly felt like she knew why the woman was so familiar,

"Danni, do you have two daughters?" she suddenly asked, confusing Hank, but the look she gave him was one to 'shut up and let me do this, we're both women so I can handle her' taking the hint he left Nikki to it. Danni on the other hand nodded as she walked away for a minute, once she left Hank turned to his younger partner,

"Nikki, where are you going with this?" he whispered, she gave him a sad look,

"You remember that locket with the two girls?" he nodded, still not getting it, men…she though,

"I think I just found their mother" Hanks eyes widened as he leaned back just as the woman came back, that was when he paid closer attention to her looks, realization hit his eyes after Danni showed them the pictures. Only the girls seem a little younger in this one. The older one had short hair still pulled in a loose ponytail as she had on a blue summer dress on with a pair of flats, a butterfly clip in her hair as she stood behind the second little girl, hugging her shoulders from behind. The younger girl wore a dark purple tank top and matching shorts with a pair of flip flops, her blonde hair pulled in two childish braids, she was missing a tooth in her grin.

"These are my two babies, the oldest, the one in the blue is Ashley while the one in the purple is Summer, they were twelve and nine in this. Ashley should be in high school by now and Summer should be in middle school" she mused, a tear slipping. Nikki smiled softly at the two little girls,

"Danni, we have reason to believe that Ashley and Summer were close with Tanner" the other woman smiled and looked up at Nikki nodding in agreement,

"Yeah, Tanner and Ashley were born around the same time, though Ashley is only a few days younger than Tanner, they've been close since they were in diapers" she said this wistfully.

"So, about Tanner…" the younger woman's voice trailed, Danni nodded, placing the picture on the glass table and sat back, crossing her legs,

"Tanner and his father came to Portland a year ago after the death of his mother, I guess it was too hard to live in a town that had too many memories of her. Anyways, I ran into Tanner once on accident and he found out what I was doing, we got into an argument because of the girls, he wanted to tell Ashley and Summer what I was doing but I couldn't let him, after that we didn't talk anymore" she was guilt ridden, the young Detective realized, she feels responsible for his death,

"Danni, it wasn't your fault, Tanner was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, if it's anyone's fault it's the one who did kill him" she tried to comfort the other woman and hoped that it would be enough for now.

Nikki felt bad immensely, she was back at the precinct with Hank. It had only been an hour since they left Danni to her thoughts, she wished she could do more for the woman but she didn't know what, Hank sensing her depression tried to pull her out of it.

"Nikki, don't worry, we'll catch the bastard that did this, okay? Look, go home to Jared, soak up in the tub, drink a beer or two and take an early bedtime and we'll keep working tomorrow. Okay?" She knew he was right and that she was just being pitiful, nodding she did just that, not quite though, she still had a bone to pick with someone first.

Once she got home and saw all the pictures of her and Jared she felt hurt, betrayed, abandoned. Getting up she went upstairs, Jared was going to be coming home a little later than usual so Nikki took the opportunity to do what she should have done after what Marie had told her about being a Grimm. She packed. Clothes, small stuff that she could fit in her backpacks and suitcases. Once an hour passed she had just finished bringing the last suitcase into her car when the said man pulled up, when he saw what she was doing he frowned and walked to her, but stopped when she put up her hand in a stop motion,

"So, I saw you, in Shaker's, and don't you bullshit me Jared" straight to the point, she closed the back seat, her hand still in the hand, he sighed, running a hand through his hair, before he got a look that said he was pissed,

"Yeah well your never home anymore! Your always at work, or with Monroe and honestly, I'm tired Nikki," Nikki smirked,

"Apparently not tired enough to obtain any STD's from the girls you've clearly slept with" she opened the drivers seat of her jeep and got in, slamming the door and locking the car, as she was putting on her seat belt she rolled the window down and glared,

"Oh, and by the way, you can have the house" with that she drove off to the one person who knows just how to make her feel better after a long and shitty day.

"Thanks again Monroe, I really appreciate this" she told him, the Blutbad only smiled as he helped carry in her stuff and placed it gently in the guest room, which was right across the hall from his room, he stood and watched as she placed her final bag on the floor and plopped on her bed, falling backwards. Her long black hair flared and curled around her as she looked up at him, Monroe needed to get out of there, he was too tempted, seeing as how she wore a red shirt with a giant picture of Chococat from Hello Kitty that had his name underneath it. Which didn't matter since it was already 7:38, they'd just have to order pizza and call it a night,

"Mind if I use the shower?" she asked, he looked back, she was sitting up again, elbows on her knees as she rested her chin on her fists, he nodded, staring into her large and innocently cute grey eyes, boy do I need a drink, he thought, making his exit.

Nikki giggled as she stood and took her shoes and socks off, grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom. Stepping into the bathroom she closed the door, and put the towel on the rack next to the shower and turned on the hot water. While waiting for it to heat up she stripped to her bra and underwear and pulled out her razor and shaved her underarms, then her legs and quickly brushed her teeth, after testing the water and was satisfied she took said undergarments off and hopped in. She sighed contentedly, letting the hot water drown her depression of Jared's betrayal, allowing the hot steam to soak in her pours and clear her nasal passages and soak her hair. Grabbing Monroe's shampoo she giggled at seeing what it was, it was the really expensive Tresame,

"Oh my god he even got it's matching conditioner" she giggled quietly, shaking her head she squirted some shampoo on her hand, lathering it nicely before scrubbing her hair and massaging her scalp with it. She sighed blissfully as she could feel the suds run down her body. Once she was clear she had cleared all the shampoo suds she began on the conditioner and applied some to her hair and scrubbed her scalp with it as well. Rinsing her hair of the conditioner she just stood in the shower for a bit, thinking as the hot water pounded against her skin, like a heavy downpour that only affected herself, sighing again she reluctantly turned off the water, not wanting to waste Monroe's hot water supply. Wrapping the towel around her body she quickly gathered her clothes in her arms and trekked to her room, quickly getting dressed. Nikki pulled out her pajama's, it was a dark rose red spaghetti strapped tank top that showed some of her stomach with a pair of black and red plaid pajama bottoms that hung low on her hips. Brushing the wet tangles out of her hair she fluffed it out and did the same to her bangs, when she was done she got up and headed downstairs to where Monroe was. He was sitting on the couch, still wearing his familiar flannel shirts and jeans, he had his arm hanging on the back of the couch, when she walked past him Nikki swore she thought she saw him double take but figured it was because of all the red she was wearing, not what she was actually wearing. She sighed softly, getting out two beers and sat beside Monroe, his arm still hanging behind her. After awhile she finally fell asleep, unaware she was using Monroe as a teddy bear.


	8. Chapter 7

Monroe on the other hand was silently panicking at the thought that he and Nikki slept together, sure it was sexual, much to the disappointment of the wolf and himself but still…lately Monroe had been feelings things for her that he wasn't sure whether to be overjoyed or…worried if she didn't like the idea of being with him that she may just decapitate him with one of the many painful looking weapons she owns. Shaking the thought from his head he instead focused on cooking bacon, and not that vegetarian stuff either, nope, this time, if he's going to confess to her he want's her to at least appreciate the full stomach he gave her so that she won't be moving around too much. As the worried Blutbad worried about what to say he heard her coming down the stairs, instead of jeans she wore black cargos that hung low on her hips, revealing some of her skin. He shook his head as she opened the fridge and got out a bottle of apple juice. She sat at the table and took a sip before wiping her mouth, they relaxed in each others company and silence, Monroe thinking up ways he can confess his feelings to her without her running away or coming back to kill him, while Nikki debated whether or not to tell Monroe about what David said to her. Once Monroe sat down placing both plates down, Nikki looked at the amazing breakfast Monroe has, once again, made specially for her. Wiggly bacon with four pieces of French toast with powdered sugar and egg whites, she grinned, feeling like it was heaven as her eyes fluttered, Monroe laughed at her show of enjoying the food.

"So, I want to tell you something that happened yesterday" Nikki said slowly, Monroe nodded as he took a bite, she waited until he swallowed to tell him,

"I met up with a Blutbad yesterday and he…said something's…" she told him, her voice faltering, Monroe frowned as he placed his fork down and gave her a calmly strange look he only reserved for the anyone who tried to attack her,

"What kinds of 'something's'?" he asked, his voice almost growling, she swallowed, taking another bite of her egg whites, and swallowed,

"He said that, you have me house trained, and that, you probably made me yours the first time you saw me, and that, if he could, he'd take me away from you" Nikki shut her eyes tightly as he growled darkly, he stood and began pacing, the wolf threatening to come out, he whipped around and kneeled in front of her, taking her hands in his and catching her eyes. Blue-grey meets red as he tried to understand what he thinks the other Blutbad said to her,

"When did this happen?" he demanded,

"Yesterday, while I was interrogating him in my latest case" she told him, her voice soft as her body started shake lightly, Monroe shook his head as he tried to think clearly, but Nikki's Honey and Vanilla scent kept distracting him,

"Okay, here's what we do, I will drop and pick you up from work, you call me when you can and keep me updated on this Blutbad if not, I will assume he has taken you and come after you and then kill him myself" he told her sternly. For the first time in a long time Nikki felt utterly and completely safe at Monroe's reassurance and knew if anything did happen, well, Nikki didn't want to be the guy who ended up meeting with her Blutbad.


	9. Chapter 8

Once Monroe pulled into the police station he pulled by the curb and waited as Nikki got out, just as she opened her door he spoke,

"Remember, call me when your shift is over and stay in the building until I come get you. Okay?" he demanded practically, she nodded, knowing what he meant, got out, shut the door and hurriedly went inside the police station.

Entering the ugly fluorescent lit building she suddenly felt like she was in elementary school again, when her parents would drop her off and tell her to have a good day, sighing she walked to her desk and was met with Hank, he gave her a confused look that told her something was up,

"Hey, what's wrong Hank?" she asked, he only shook his head as they sat and started trying to find out more about Ashley and summer. In the end they didn't find much except Ashley had her license but not for very long, neither had any records meaning they weren't in the system, Nikki sighed, not sure what they should do next, find his friends and interview them? Or find the girls and talk to them first? Needing a short distraction she turned to her partner to find him gone, she frowned, her eyebrows knitting tightly together before looking back to Tanner's file. Since the case was full of Blutbadden, it made her wonder if the wolf that actually killed Tanner's mother was really a-

"-Nikki" jumping slightly she looked up to se Sergeant Wu standing beside her, she felt herself relax as he handed her a slip of paper,

"What's this?" she asked, opening it up, neat cursive was a short hand written note,

_If you want to find out more about Tanner meet at the spot Tanner was killed, I'll tell you everything. _

_-A friend…_

Biting her bottom lip and chewing on it lightly she stood and put on her jacket and grabbed Hank's car keys, telling Wu she was to tell Hank she was following a lead and was borrowing his car for a bit and she'll call if she needs backup. Putting her phone on vibrate she took long and hurried strides to the parking lot, found Hank's car in his usual space and drove off, hoping the dread she felt in her stomach wasn't an omen.


	10. Chapter 9

Nikki couldn't believe it, she was about to finally crack open the case wide open, all she needed was this 'friend' to help her out and she can put Tanner's murderer away for good. Grinning hugely she turned the radio station to 104.7 K-Duc knowing it'll piss Hank off, taking a sip of the hot chocolate she bought on the way she pulled into Powell's bookstore. Since it was still early there weren't many people here, but once lunch hour comes it'll be packed like usual. She just sat in the car, heater on high as she took a huge gulp before putting it back down when she surveyed the area. All there was were a few minivan's, a BMW and a black jeep that looked familiar but shook it off when she saw a figure head towards her. Getting out and making sure her gun was secured, Nikki stepped onto the pavement and walked to the front of Hank's car and leaned against it, hands in her pocket,

"Detective Burkhardt?" the voice was male, soft and gentle,

"Yeah, that's me, so, you want to tell me what happened?" she asked, for some reason she suddenly felt like this was a bad idea being out in the open like this, they needed cover, dread filled her stomach as the man took a few steps toward her. She could see some dark colored hair and part of his chin, it was covered lightly in the five 'o' clock shadow.

"Yeah, I'll tell you everything, after you come with me for a bit" Nikki frowned, hearing footsteps behind her she turned, blue grey eyes widened as she was struck painfully in the head, knocking her out, her last thought before unconsciousness took over was Monroe's face, angry and stern at her for doing something so dangerous without him. She sure was going to be bitched at later for this.


	11. Chapter 10

He didn't know how the hours passed like they did, but Monroe felt his skin buzz at the thought of picking Nikki up. Monroe stood up, gently putting his latest clock project away for the time being, grabbed his keys and cell and jacket, hoping that Nikki was safe in the police station. As the Blutbad walked to his little bug he could smell it, another Blutbad was in his territory, frowning he looked across the street, right at the entrance of the park was David Newman, he knew it was David because Nikki had shown him the guys picture and forced himself to memorize it. David had a knowing smirk that seemed to make the wolf inside Monroe growl at the thought he may have her, turning and heading over to the younger man he let his eyes bleed red, warning him. Though at this it only seemed to excite him more as he licked his lips and with his index and middle finger motioned for him to come forward, daring him to attack the younger Blutbad.

"You know, Nikki is quite the stunning woman, I've always admired stunning women, they always seem to be the strongest of women in both the human and Wesen world. Though, the strongest of hearts always seem to be the loneliest of hearts. You should know that she's safe, for now" with that David turned and ran off, Monroe felt himself die inside as he took out his cell phone and frantically called Nikki…no answer…

After calling her phone three more times and not getting anything he called Detective Griffin, Nikki had given him Hank's number in case he couldn't get a hold of her, though his number was only meant for emergencies. Running back to his car he got in and sped all the way to the precinct. He had only left his neighborhood when Hank picked up,

"Hello?"

"Um, is this Detective Griffin?" Monroe asked, wondering if he got the wrong number,

"Yes, who may I ask is calling?" the Blutbad sighed happily and talked fast, his bug zooming and weaving in and out of traffic,

"It's Monroe, Nikki's friend, listen, I don't know how or why but David Newman just came to my house and told me that Nikki is safe, for now. I don't know if she's with you or not but can you put her on please?" Monroe begged, the line went silent before he started hearing Hank yell out orders, things like, 'Track her cell!" or "Did anyone see where Nikki went earlier?" by the time Monroe got there Hank was standing outside, pacing with a small Asian man standing beside him.

"Monroe, right?" Hank asked, he nodded as sergeant Wu began explaining,

"Well, she had been given a note that told her if she met this person where Tanner was killed then he or she would tell Nikki everything, she took Hank's car, so far we haven't been able to locate her phone so it might've been turned off" Wu said, Monroe could feel the growl building up, why didn't she take Hank? Why did the moron have to go alone? He shouted in his mind, though he knew if he didn't calm down then it wouldn't help Nikki at all. Monroe could only hope that for the moment, Nikki was safe.


	12. Chapter 11

Nikki woke up, disoriented, dazed and feeling strangely calm. The room she was in was dark, she was tied to a wooden chair, that much she could tell and the smell of pine needles and dirt filled her senses, she knew this because this was a scent she had committed to memory. She was somewhere in a cabin. Shaking her head she winced as she felt a headache pulse in her brain, testing her wrists she was tied with rope and the knot was thick and too tight for her to undo right away, Nikki would need to wear it out. Good thing she had excellent practice of wearing things out, Monroe's cooperation to help her out when she needed him was proof of that. At first she was quiet and waited patiently, straining her ears to hear anything, so far, nothing. Gritting her teeth she set to work on rubbing the rope against the sharpest edges she could find, it was at moments like these that the young Grimm had wished she hadn't watched so many episodes of 'Criminal Minds' knowing exactly this is what it feels like at the moment. Ignoring her wild imagination and trying to keep her hope low of being saved so quickly and that her kidnappers had killed each other she entertained herself by singing 'I need a Hero' from the second Shrek movie. Sadly though, not long after she started singing and wearing the rope down a door right ahead of her slammed open as light overpowered her, it took a few seconds for Nikki's eyes to adjust and when they did she grimaced. There, standing right in front of her was none other than-

"David Newman, surprise, surprise," she said this as sarcastically as she could, David only leered at her,

"Nikki, so glad you're finally awake" her eyes flickered from the pervert in front of her to the door behind him, her eyes widened as she just realized where they were,

"Yes, Nikki, welcome to my cabin in the woods" he said proudly, Nikki faked a thinking face,

"Isn't 'Cabin in the woods' the title of a horror movie?" she asked nonchalantly, for some reason her lack of attention on David made the young Blutbad angry,

"Yes it is, now, I have someone here who wants to ask you some questions of his own" as he said this the door frame was filled with the presence of someone she was clearly not expecting,

"Well, isn't this just a bundle of laughs. So, how's Shaker's going Mike?" Nikki asked cheekily, still not quite sure where her playful personality is coming from, but, wherever it did come from, she was sure as hell grateful for it.


	13. Chapter 12

Breathing became hard for Nikki as she tried to stand up only to crumble back to the floor again, she had managed to get out of the chair when the two Blutbadden left her alone and had only made it out the front door of the cabin when she felt something bash against her skull. This would be her third attempt within, her eyes widened, she didn't even know how long she'd been gone! The window's had been sealed shut and covered with thick black cloth, bathing the room and herself in total darkness. Getting awkwardly onto her knees she started to rock back and forth, chanting in her mind like a mantra only to fall to her side again as she lost her balance when she did make it to her tightly tied feet.

"Erg!" she grunted, her most injured side hitting the hardwood floor, the young Grimm tried to breath calmly, the way Monroe breathes when trying to keep the wolf from coming out. Sweat dripped down her temple as she rolled to her back, grunting in pain again. She was certain she had at least one if not two one at least two cracked ribs, so far Nikki hasn't lost much blood, yet. Her head was killing her as she tried to regain her control over her heartbeat, Mike and David left the cabin again to go back into town meaning this was her short window of opportunity. Taking a deep breath she held it as she rolled onto her stomach, wincing in pain, biting down hard enough to draw blood on her bottom lip she pulled a worm and somehow managed to get on her knees again. Tucking her feet under her she bit down harder on her bottom lip and ignored the pain as she managed to get to a standing position and hopped to where she remembered where the front door was.

David sighed as he paced his brothers office, Mike was everything he wasn't and it pissed him off, he sighed again and turned to his brother, they had to keep up appearances, they had to act like they hadn't just kidnapped a cop who also happened to be a Grimm with a Blutbad for a protective not-boyfriend.

"David, calm down and sit" Mike commanded, the younger man did as he was told, the older blonde was about to say something when someone knocked on the door, thinking it was one of his men he called out,

"Come in" he kept up his façade, a small and peaceful smile that only fell when it wasn't any of his bouncer's but the whole cause of the damn problem,

"Ah, Danni, how may I be of service to you?" Mike asked, letting red seep into his bright blue eyes.

How many hours passed? How many feet or miles had she crossed? Nikki ran frantically down the forested path near the cabin which she could no longer see anymore. When she had managed to get the door open she found some broken glass she used to cut the rope off her hands and ankles, all she had to do was just get herself the hell out of here. Tripping over an unseen log she rolled down a small hill, her exposed skin getting cut and scraped as she was sure one of her ribs was now broken. Digging her fingers into the cool dirt and soil she tucked her feet once again into the ground as she slowly descended the hill and to the forest floor that lay before her. Panting hard she turned to her back as her face contorted into pain as her rib throbbed and pulsed,

"Dammitt, Monroe's going to kill me" she whined, forcing herself up she looked up the hill, surprised at how deep the fall actually was. It was one of those hills that you couldn't climb unless you were an avid hiker who knew what they were doing, licking her lips and smearing the blood a little she stood awkwardly and hobbled slowly, thoughts of Monroe, Hank and Dr. Pepper keeping her going.

"Just you wait, I'm coming" she said, determination blazing in her eyes.

Monroe was at the police station bright and early the next morning, it had been two and a half days since Nikki's disappearance and the wolf was not pleased by this, if nothing came up within the next four to five hours, he was going after her himself. He paced in front of the station, waiting for Hank to arrive, which, happily for him he showed up only twenty minutes later carrying two to-go cups of something smelling strongly of Nikki's preferable morning drink.

"Keeps her close" was all the other man mumbled before the two walked to his desk,

"The note said that the person would tell Nikki everything if she met him in the area that Tanner was killed, where was that?" Monroe asked, sipping the vanilla and mint filled hot chocolate, now he could see why she likes it so much, it's more soothing than his chamomile tea he makes her drink. Hank looked to him and nodded,

"Yeah, that was at Powell's bookstore, well, the parking…lot…" his eyes widened as he stood and grabbed his keys,

"Monroe, come with me" he commanded, which the Blutbad happily did, thinking they just found a link to her.


	14. Chapter 13

Warmth, hot chocolate, fire, Monroe, warmth, hot chocolate, fire, Monroe, the thoughts played over and over in her mind like a mantra as Nikki shivered lightly, her face started to burn and she was sure it wasn't because of the fluttering feeling of thinking of the Blutbad. She had stopped by a small lake she had found to try washing the blood off her shirt, that was when she discovered her bullet wound in her right shoulder. How could she forget about it? Duh, her adrenaline rush she had as she first started running away prevented her from feeling it, man, how lame was this? Straining the excess water from her top she quickly put it back on, fresh blood had started to seep from the wounds she had, she was docile still but just enough to maybe pull the bullet out. Reaching for the pocket knife she keeps strapped to her ankle she grabbed it before taking her clothes off again and jumping into the clear and crisp water she sucked in a huge breath as the water started to soak her wounds and wash the blood off. Ducking so only her neck and up were out of the water she chewed hard on her bottom lip again as she stuck the knife in deep enough to extract the bullet. Panting hard she stayed in the water for five minutes as the cold water helped somewhat with the pain and blood cleaning. Placing her right hand tightly over the wound she got up and quickly got dressed, straining the excess of water out of her hair and kept going. She stumbled a couple of times and tripped over a fallen log, Nikki whimpered in pain as her body exploded with pain, like an active volcano and struggled to get up. She was starting to get more dizzy by the minute, but she still had no idea of how far she had managed to get, so, using the fallen tree, she managed to get to her knees. Her legs trembled as she wrapped her arms around herself as she slowly moved through the forest, her mantra from before spilling softly past her abused lips. Reminding herself why she had to get back home.

Hank was right, women and both men, including all the cops as they examined the video recording of Nikki in the Powell's bookstore parking lot. The dark skinned man glared hard as he saw his partner turn just in time to meet with a blunt force object and fall harshly to the ground, the two men revealed themselves to be David Newman and…Mike? Shakers' club owner? His eyebrows furrowed in anger as the video stopped and the Captain turned to address the men and women in uniform.

"We know that David Newman had seemed to have shown a somewhat disturbing interest in Detective Burkhardt when we had him interrogated, it seems that Mike, who is the owner of a dancer club called Shaker's is somehow involved with all of this. Now what we need to do is search throughout the area's the two men frequent the most and see if we can pick up any leads that will help us find Detective Burkhardt. Any questions?" his voice was full of authority and a side of him that only few have seen on the most important of cases. Hank looked around the room to see no one had any though, the only question he had was why did Nikki go by herself? Without at least bringing him for backup? He shook his head as the Captain dismissed everyone and Hank went to his computer and went to see if there was any connections between the two men.

A half hour later Hank discovered that the two men were indeed brothers and that was one of the reasons that David's alibi was so good, because his brother helped him out. What he found interesting was that Tanner's mother a few months before she died had put a restraining order against the two brothers for stalking and harassment charges. It stated that Lucy, Tanner's mom, had been harassed on several occasions over the past few weeks, it seemed that her family and David and Mike's family had been feuding for several generations. It was also stated that she had been threatened at least a couple times a month, after the restraining order had been signed and registered things had been quiet up until the Sister's incident. Hank wasn't sure if Nikki's new intuition was rubbing off him but something didn't sit well with the incident, since the wolves in Oregon mostly live near the East Coast. So, now a whole new set of questions came up, but for now, he only settled on finding Nikki.

He called Hank again, which the other man had, surprisingly, shared a lot of the information he just found, he was sitting in his favorite chair as he stared at Nikki's note, deciding that it was a waste of time sitting here doing nothing he got up, grabbed his phone and jacket then headed to his car, deciding tracking her scent will do better for both him and the wolf. He made it to the parking lot and felt the wolf growl as he saw Hank's car was still here, as he leaned down by the tire he saw a small speck of blood, he nearly growled and stood straight when he heard someone come his way. Turning he saw it was a woman, she had short wavy pale blonde hair, pale skin and looked nervous for some reason. She wore a pair of form fitting jeans and some tennis shoes with an oversized jacket on,

"Um, sorry to bother you, I was just…I-I know where they took her" his eyes widened, but, no, he couldn't let himself get his hopes too high, especially if she's lying.

"What are you talking about?" he asked softly, no matter how angry he was Monroe refused to let it out on an innocent, the woman pulled out a picture, his heart stopped. In the picture was Nikki, tied up on the floor, bleeding in several places, her eyes were closed as she lay on her side, curled in a ball.

"I-I was told to-to give this to y-you" the woman stuttered, he froze as he swiped the picture out of her hand,

"Where is she?" he growled, glaring at the picture, the woman visibly shook,

"In the woods, just outside of town, th-there's a c-c-cabin that's where they have her" Monroe turned to face the woman, trying his dammist to not take it out on her, while the wolf, had other ideas,

"How do I know she's still alive?" he asked tightly, the woman jumped before turning to look behind her shoulder, Monroe didn't see anything but a shadow moving but assumed it was someone else,

"Because…that's where he…takes the girls sometimes…David does…" hearing the wretch's name made him growl as he shook off the transformation and turned on his heel and walked to his car,

"Please, if you find her, tell Detective Burkhardt…that what happened…really was my fault…and that I'm going to take care of it" that was the last thing the Blutbad heard before getting in his car and speeding off, following her scent and the directions the woman just gave her.

Monroe made it to the woods. The scent was stronger now, more tantalizing as he got out of his car, half transformed and started running, running faster and harder than he did with Angelina when he had temporarily fell off the band wagon.

"Hang on Nikki, I'm coming to get you" he growled her name. Little did Monroe know, Nikki herself was also on her way.


	15. Chapter 14

David was running, pumping his arms and legs fast and hard, he had to find the little Grimm and finish her off before Mike could chew him out. The little bitch got away! Growling he let the wolf out and followed her scent, the woman was as resilient as hell seeing as how she made it at least two and a half miles by herself, somehow. Shaking his head he lost her scent as he arrived at a small lake taking a deep breath he howled and unknowingly ran in the direction that Monroe was coming from.

Where am I? Am I finally dead or is this a sick joke on my brain? Nikki thought sadly, she had walked too fast and ended up tumbling down a hill, her breathing was harsh as she fought to stay calm and awake but she couldn't. Thoughts and images of her and Monroe popped in her head, like a movie clips to trailers that she likes to watch.

_Nikki and Monroe lay side by side on the forest floor as they watch the sunset, Nikki's long black hair fanned out around her as she looked to her best friend then back up at the cotton candy like clouds. _

_The young Grimm stood tall and demanding as she dragged a reluctant Blutbad to dance with her to one of her favorite slow songs, "Back at one" by Brian McKnight, the feeling of his strong arms around her waist as she leaned heavily against him, inhaling his scent of the forest and nature in general. With a hint of cinnamon. _

_The Blutbad was silently fuming as he gave the happy-go-lucky Grimm a piggy-back ride back to his house. Nikki had somehow been stupid enough to wear a new pair of leather boots she bought and wore them while apprehending a suspect who was then taken away by Hank to the police station. She had called Monroe for a quick 'ride' back to his place, great, as if it weren't degrading enough for him as it is, but a piggy back! Really? _

_He tasted like his favorite German imported beer he had just sipped, Nikki had a little too much to drink and had asked if she could kiss him, just this once, he seemed reluctant at first but something in his eyes changed and he let her take full control. It was slow and innocent at first then slowly changed to hungry and needing before the two pulled apart and grinned only to have her drunken heart crushed when Monroe told her they couldn't do that again. _

_He was holding her, gently but firmly as well as she cried into his chest, clutching thick clumps of his flannel shirt in her tiny fists as she finally let out all the pain and sadness left in her heart as Aunt Marie's first anniversary came. The Blutbad kept her in his lap as she cried hard, nearly enough to throw up but didn't, still trying to be mindful of Monroe's need for cleanliness and order. He had run his fingers through her hair, not saying anything as she finally let her tears out, it had finally became too much to keep it all in and Monroe, like usual, was more than happy to be her shoulder to cry on. He had even gone as far as singing her to sleep when she finally calmed down. _

_Nikki lay there in the ditch as tears fell freely, she'd never see him again, she realized, she was going to die here in the dirt and grime, just like all the other cases she had been a part of. She just hoped that Monroe would make it so that she could tell him, tell him that she lo- _

"_-Nikki?" her heart stopped, then picked up double time, she knew that voice, at least, that's what her brain kept telling her, _

"_Nikki?" the voice called out again, who was that? Was it the one who is always good to her? Or is it the man known to her as her partner? _

"_Nikki!" warmth spread through her as the woman's soft voice reached her ears, she looked up, lazily opening her eyes to see a woman. She was beautiful with long soft brown hair and gentle green eyes as she sat on her knees by the younger woman, _

"_Nikki, sweetie, you need to wake up honey. He's looking for you, right now you need to wake up, his heart will whither away and die if you don't wake up right now" that voice, this woman, she's someone I know…right? She thought, the woman only smiled as she was soon joined by a man with shaggy black hair and grey eyes, he had a large build and looked familiar. Why do these people look familiar? Is Nikki that far gone that she can't even comprehend her own- _

"_-Who are you?" her parents only smiled at her as the man kneeled next to her and brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead, just like her dad used to when she was little, _

"_Looks like Scrappy is all grown up" her father chuckled, fresh tears ran down the sides of her face, seeing as how she was still lying down, _

"_Pumpkin, you need to wake up now, he's here, oh, you'll be needing this too" the woman took something off from her ring finger and handed it to her daughter, _

"_What…what is it?" Nikki asked softly, her mother only sighed sadly as she kissed her daughter's temple one last time, _

"_Honey, you're so beautiful and smart and your doing such a fantastic job, Nathan, wasn't there anything you wanted to tell our daughter?" the woman smiled knowingly, Nathan sighed tiredly, before placing his large hand over the young girls broken ribs. A warm sensation spread through her stomach and chest area as the pain slowly died away from her broken ribs, _

"_After this Scrappy, you're on your own now. Don't worry, we're so proud of you Kiddo, your doing better as a Grimm than your ancestor's, including Marie, your mother and I. Now, go give those evil Blutbadden some Burkhardt hell Kiddo" with that the two mysterious adults vanished and the world of the forest returned again. The pain in her side had subsided she felt refreshed but Nikki knew she was still badly injured, rolling her shoulders back she noticed the bullet wound had also been nullified, sighing she stood and hobbled over to a huge tree, sat down and leaned back. If she were to give Mike and David hell, she'd need to rest for a bit longer first. _

_Monroe had been searching and searching for nearly two hours and still nothing, he had found her scent but then it had somehow been overshadowed by another scent that he unhappily recognized as David's. The wolf inside him had growled as he Woged but managed to contain him again, desperately trying to find Nikki before David or Mike could. The Blutbad passed by a lake and kept running as fast as he could, as he ran he felt something strange flutter in his mind, before a woman's voice spoke to him, _

"_Your getting closer Monroe, Nikki's not far ahead of you honey, here, I'll help you too" and then, as if by magic he caught her scent! Monroe had been too distracted by Nikki's scent and the woman's voice and was too late to notice the fallen tree right before him and ended up tumbling down a hill. _

"_Ah!" he cried out, he sat up, seeing cartoonish stars fly around his head, shaking the stars away he blinked and looked around only to notice a figure wearing black and had blood dying her skin, _

"_Nikki!" the figure stirred and opened her eyes tiredly as he ran to her, her eyes brightened as she finally registered Monroe's presence, he was only a yard away from her when the Blutbad was suddenly tackled to the ground, _

"_MONROE!" she cried out, scrambling to get up only to fall back down again. How was she supposed to help him when she couldn't even help herself? _

_Kitsunekit75: Um hey ya'll, I had been requested by one of my reviewers to make this scene a tear jerker so I actually did try to make this one it, um, what else? Oh, right thank you all for following and reading my story and giving me all those nice comments, as fellow writer's I don't think I need to tell you how appreciated every comment/concern is shared with me. After this chapter I will have another chapter then the epilog, I know I kept dragging the search and rescue for Nikki but it was hard coming up with ways for the others to find her. Also if I'm given enough comments or requests I can find ways to make a sequel to this, no idea how the hell I can do it but I will try. Also for advertisement purposes please check out some of my other one-shots and stories, currently I'm just now making a Soul eater story for those of you who know enough about Anime and Manga to know what I'm talking about. The story is called 'Star's and Orange's" please check it out if you have the time or patience. _


	16. Chapter 15

Monroe heard her cry, her voice was hoarse and scratchy but it was still just as beautiful as any piece by Mozart to his ears. The wolf in him wagged it's tail happily at the sound her voice and he didn't want to admit it but…Nikki had long since collared him, but for the moment he needed to focus on his assailant the one who dared take his Nikki! He wanted David's blood. Letting his claws lengthen and sharpen he swiped David's shoulder and slashed it across the younger Blutbad's chest, David howled as he wolfed out. Tossing him off the weider Blutbad got up and ran several feet in front of Nikki, crouching low as he growled out a warning, a warning David took no heed of and went in for the attack. The two ran at each other, as a flurry of claws and bite marks made themselves known on the other,

Nikki's fists turned pure white from how hard she was gripping them, looking around the forests floor she scrambled to find a stick, a rock, anything to distract David long enough for Monroe to take him out. The Grimm found what she needed, only it was a few feet from where she sat crouched, testing her temporary morphine induced state, she used the tree as support and stood on wobbly legs. She only took three steps before her ankle went out from beneath her, grunting she fell back down only to start crawling on all fours, making sure to keep track of the fight in her peripheral.

"Hurry it up Nikki" she egged herself on, she was too tired, her eyes fluttered as she started to feel herself drain out, shaking her head fiercely Nikki kept going, knowing Monroe couldn't finish this without her.

David was, to say the least, losing control. The wolf in his wanted Nikki's blood and he wanted her body, so, he let the wolf go.

Monroe's eyes widened as David started to get stronger, more determined and deadly. The wolf in Monroe snapped and clawed it's way to the surface, begging Monroe to let him free, just long enough to kill David and protect their mate, Monroe refused, seeing the giant rock that Nikki had been crawling towards. He just needed to hold on until she got to it, so, swallowing hard he let small amounts of the wolf out in dosages. The Blutbad sent a powerful sucker punch to David, or, what was left of him and sent him tumbling to the ground only to get back up and charge at the older man. _Nikki, whatever your planning I suggest you get on with it!_

Finally, finally! Nikki panted hard as she struggled to her feet and stood, whatever it is her dad did for her ribs and bullet wound was wearing off, she had to act now. Sucking in a breath she bent down and with both hands grabbed the giant rock and for a short moment, locked eyes with Monroe. They both nodded simultaneously and with one fluid motion, Monroe sent David flying and banged his head against the base of the tree, when he looked up his eyes met said rock flying in his direction. The last thing David saw was Monroe crouching protectively in front of Nikki.

"How bad are you hurt?" Hank asked, Nikki had called Hank not long after David breathed his last breath. The male Detective met Monroe at the forest edge as he spotted the clock maker carrying Nikki bridal style,

"Not too bad, I think" she grinned cheekily, as if she were only scraped, not badly beaten, Hank only shook his head at her childish tendencies. Monroe carried her to the ambulance, and kept a silent vigil over her as she was placed on the emergency carrier and put in the ambulance while David's body had been taken to the coroner. Hank watched as Monroe climbed in with Nikki, holding her hand and whispering softly to her, Nikki's expression had softened as the clock maker stroked her hand and her hair back. Shaking his head once again Detective Griffin got into his car and followed Nikki's ambulance to the hospital, that girl had a lot of explaining to do.

Nikki grimaced as the bed jostled as she was rolled into the emergency room, they had knocked her out so they could work on her injuries and she could feel the tension coming from Monroe despite the fact that he wasn't in the same room as her. It was nearly an hour later when both her partner and Captain came in, and to the best of her drugged induced state explained as much as she could without giving away her Grimm abilities.

"So, what about Monroe? You won't charge him with anything right?" she asked timidly, both men looked surprised, but shook their heads no,

"No, Mr. Monroe…he won't be pressed any charges. We're just lucky he happened upon you while he was hiking" Nikki sighed in relief, after that the two men left her in silence. Leaning back she quietly sang to herself,

"Absolutely no one knows me better,

No one that can make me feel so good,

How did we stay so long together? When

Everybody, everybody said we never would.

Just when I, I start to think they're right, that

Love has died.

There you go making my heart beat again,

Heart beat again, heart beat again,

There you go making me feel like a kid, won't

You do it, and do it one time. There you go pulling

Me right back in, right back in, right back in, and I

Know I'm never letting this go. I'm

Stuck on you.

Woah-Oh Woah-Oh

Stuck like glue, you and me baby we're

Stuck like glue. Woah-Oh Woah-Oh

Stuck like glue, you and me baby we're

Stuck like glue"

Monroe stood outside her door, she lay there in bed and was singing, he knew the song since Nikki liked it a lot, shaking his head the Blutbad let her finish singing before slowly cracking the door open. He peeked in and watched her for a moment, a peaceful smile on her face despite the fact that she was kidnapped by a terrorizing Blutbad that was out for her blood. Stepping in softly he gently closed the door behind him and walked up to the little chair that was placed beside her bed and once again took her small hand in his. When he stroked her hand, on her left hand was a ring. The ring was on her middle finger, it was quite beautiful. The band was gold and extremely thin with a small heart shaped diamond. The band surrounding the heart on each side was a small empty heart shape, it was a simple ring for an anything but simple girl. Looking up at her face he noticed her grey eyes watching him,

"That ring was the one my dad gave my mom when he proposed. It was weird, when before you came I dreamt of my parents, they kept telling me to wake up, that they were proud of me and said I was doing a good job as a Grimm. Funny thing is, the ring on my finger, it wasn't there before I dreamt of her, it was actually in my pocket," she smiled at it, Monroe's eyes widened as he took in what she said. _Could it be…? he wondered. Her parents must really love her if they were able to temporarily show themselves to her like that, her mother must've put it on her when she was sleeping, he guessed. _

"_Hey Monroe?" he looked up at her, noting the soft expression she gave him, _

"_Yeah?" reaching out with her IV free arm she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him forward and kissed him, gently brushing her lips against his and pulled away, her face slightly red._

"_This kiss, and the fact that I'm living with you now have been the only good things coming out from this week" she said softly, his brown orbs softened as he leaned back and kissed her softly again. _

"_I love you, so much Nikki" she nodded, tears pricking her eyes as he cupped both her cheeks and kissed her again before sitting back down. The rest of the time was spent just sitting in comfortable silence as they brushed hands, or locked eyes, occasionally sharing a soft kiss as the end of this crummy week finally ended. _

_Kitsunekit75: Okay guys, there is one last chapter after this and A crummy week will be finally over, I want to thank you all for following my story and for giving me comments and feedbacks, I treasure every single one of them and hope that you will continue to read my work in the later future. Also for the last chapter I suggest you listen to the song 'Back at one' by Brian McKnight, that way you guys will get the full experience of what I'm trying to convey to you guys. Once again thank you all and I hope you all enjoyed reading A crummy week as much as I enjoyed writing it, so, to those of you who have I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, especially considering this is the first multi-chapter story I've finished! Seriously that is a big deal since I almost never finish writing my stories! Anyway's, if I'm given enough reviews about it I will think long and hard about a sequel to present you with. So, Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and finally, goodbye. _


	17. Chapter 16The Finale

2 Months later…

"So Nikki, how does it feel knowing you're the future Mrs. Nikki Monroe?" Hank teased her, the young Grimm/Detective laughed loudly before taking a drink of her vanilla and mint hot chocolate, ignoring her partner. He nudged her playfully before rolling her eyes,

"Oh shut up, it feels great! Man, I still can't believe I'm getting married, I know I'm not very girlie and I can't afford to be in our line of work but still…I'm getting married!" she hooted, pumping her ring clad finger in the air. She still couldn't believe it, they had only dated for a month before the Blutbad had asked her for her hand.

_Nikki had been ruthlessly teased by Hank about her and Monroe's relationship, it was no secret that Nikki and Monroe were dating and somehow the news had spread like wildfire on a hot July's afternoon that she had a new boyfriend. Hank liked him after she had pulled the curtain, revealing herself as the peaceful Grimm with the help of the friendly Blutbad, he had actually took it all in great stride as she explained about the situation with 'Big Foot' and that it was actually Monroe he saw. Anyways, all day Hank had been dropping ideas like there was no tomorrow, like 'Say, if you two have any pups, name one after me" or "When will Monroe pop the question?" he had been dropping marriage hints all day and it annoyed the hell out of her because she knew he knew something and she didn't like it, because it meant she didn't know what it was. When the Grimm told her partner about the dinner Monroe had planned for them he grinned knowingly and told her to have a nice dinner and that he wanted to know about anything that happened between the two of them, she threatened to shoot him if he didn't stop the teasing. When she did get home she immediately got into her nicer dress. It was spaghetti strapped and was a bright orange, it flared out as she walked or twirled, it was form fitting around the bust and waist. For shoes she wore a pair of black heels, they were short and easy to walk in. Nikki had pulled her side fringes back, letting her bangs fall barely into her eyes as loose hair framed her face, added a bit of eyeliner and a thin layer of Dr. Pepper flavored lip gloss. As she looked at her reflection she noticed the bullet wound, right above the heart and looked away and then shook her head gently. Monroe said that where they were headed they should dress nicely so she decided to show the woman behind the badge, hoping Monroe would be okay with her. When she came downstairs and turned on the T.V. she looked to see the Blutbad at his work desk, engrossed in his latest clock project, he wore his nice suit that he almost never wore. Getting up she turned off the T.V. then headed over to her boyfriend, _

"_Hey, should we get going soon?" she asked, placing a petite hand on his shoulder, he looked up, taking his magnifier glasses off and took in her appearance, he blinked as he set his clock down and stood facing her, _

"_Wow, Nikki, you look beautiful" he breathed, smiling shyly she took his hand in both of hers, _

"_Shouldn't we get going?" she asked again, nodding he took her hand and led her to the front door, she grabbed a simple tan colored sweater and buttoned it up as Monroe put on his blazer. _

_After dinner in the amazing Chinese restaurant they just left Monroe and Nikki went out walking around the area, holding hands and acting like a couple would. By the time they reached the fountain right where they parked the car Monroe walked to the drivers seat and turned on the radio, and turned the volume up just as the song 'Back at one' by Brian McKnight started playing. Nikki grinned as he took her in his arms and twirled her lightly and pulled her back to him, _

"_I love this song" she sighed happily, _

"_Which is why I thought it would be the perfect song for this" Nikki looked at him curiously, cocking her head to the side like a puppy, _

"_Perfect for what?" she asked, he grinned at her, and pulled an object out of his pocket. She gasped, seeing the black velvet box as he got down on one knee and opened it to reveal her mother's ring, _

"_Nikki Burkhardt, we've only been dating for a month, but, despite that, we've been friends much longer and ever since you told me that you trusted me with your dying Aunt Marie, I knew that you were different. Not just as a Grimm but as a woman, I love you, that's all there is to it and I want to know if your willing to spend the rest of your life with me?" he ended, it was incredibly cliché but it was the sweetest, most honest and sincere thing she'd ever heard, tears fell as she nodded, his eyes widened in happiness as he stood and placed the ring on her ring finger. Then, hoisting her up high he twirled her, bending down Nikki kissed him deeply, tears still falling as the two kissed. Pulling away for air Nikki pressed her forehead against her now fiancé's _

"_I love you so much" she whispered, putting her back on her feet Monroe twirled her again as the song started over again and they danced to it. Her mothers ring, now her own engagement ring, glittered on her finger in the pale moonlight._

It hadn't been long since they announced the wedding plans to their immediate friends and family, it was then how she knew why Hank kept dropping the hints, Monroe had gone to Hank for his permission to marry her. Hank agreed to walk her down the aisle as Rosalee agreed to be her maid-of-honor and Holly the flower girl. Monroe's parents, Sam and Tanya were coming down too, unfortunately, Angelina had heard of the engagement but luckily absolutely refused to come to her former lover's wedding to both Nikki and Monroe's secret joy. Nikki's life was starting to look up again, she may have lost a lot in the past, but, meeting Monroe and discovering her Grimm abilities-sometimes more of a curse than a gift-had given her so much more in return. Monroe being the main cause of it all.

Later that night Nikki sat in her new Hello Kitty pajama's she bought, they were pink with black hemlines with a giant winking Hello Kitty on the shirt and in big white bubble letter's said 'YOU HAD ME AT HELLO" while watching an episode of Psych.

"Hey Nikki, when did you get home?" Monroe asked, sitting next to her, she crawled onto his lap, her hair spilling past her shoulders,

"Not long ago," she replied, grinning she kissed his jaw and snuggled into his embrace, for the first time in years, feeling like she finally belonged.


End file.
